The photo above is of the journal my daughter gave me as a gift! So while this is my first post (which I think of as a kind of public journal entry), it is far from my first journal entry. I’ve been keeping a journal for most of my adult life. I use it as a means to process and discover what I think and feel about myself and my relationships. Have you ever read the journals of Anais Nin? Or seen the movie, Henry and June, about her relationship with the writer, Henry Miller? They were a big part of my original inspiration for keeping a record of my inner and artistic lives. Speaking of Art, part of Engaging the Senses mission is to use the beauty of the arts and the every day world as tools for mindfulness. So please check out the two moon themed poems at the bottom of the post.

I’m really excited to be launching my first post as the energy of the new moon in Libra makes it way into our lives.?I’ve always loved beginning things, and as I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten better at finishing what I begin, and only beginning what I can finish. By beginning where and how I am, I am practicing one of the most important and basic teachings of the late, great Yogi, Krishnamacharya. I am not waiting until I have perfected the art of blogging, and uploading and editing photos. Although I may make mastering these skills one of my new moon wishes/intentions. I am feeling my fear, accepting my limitations, and practicing the yoga of posting as mindfully as I can anyway. Big exhale!

So yes, even though parts of Engagingthesenses.com are still under construction, it felt important to me to start blogging now and begin sharing the process of manifesting this long cherished dream. I am in the process of completing the book version of Engaging the Senses, and hope to see it published in 2011. The seeds of Engaging the Senses were first sown many years ago during a visit to Mother Meera. They were sown again when my daughter was born. It had always been my intention (there’s that word again) to be both a mother and a writer. My friend, the Santa Fe poet laureate, Joan Logghe?joanlogghe.com, stopped writing for 7 years after the birth of her third child. I am so grateful to her for sharing that information with me, as well as for the wonderful writing classes I took with when I was still a novice. It has helped to sustain me and my intention to balance being a mother with my writing life and spiritual practice through many unexpected challenges-e.g. a serious injury to my right (writing) arm, becoming a single mom, a 3 year battle in the family court of Australia to gain the right the return with my daughter to the States and my aging parents. The judge who granted that right said I was the only woman he’d allowed to do this in his 25 years on the bench. There are more but I’ll save those for another post.

What wishes or intentions will you be making this new moon? I’d love to hear from you about them and anything else from the post?that moved you . What I like to do is write them in my journal and on a piece of pretty paper which I place on my altar and visit as the moon increases. The sign of Libra is about balance and harmony. When the new moon is moving through Libra, awareness of others is highlighted. This new moon I will be setting some intentions for myself, and some shared ones with my beloved.

New Moon

The new moon, of no importance

lingers behind as the yellow sun glares

and is gone beyond the sea’s edge;

earth smokes blue;

the new moon, in cool height above the blushes,

bring a fresh fragrance of heaven to our senses.

By D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930)

Autumn moonlight

Autumn moonlight-

a worm digs silently

into the chestnut.

By Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)